Steven Gerrard hit back at interviewer Des Kelly for his chosen line of questioning in the light of Aston Villa's Premier League defeat against Arsenal.
Gerrard's side struggled to create clear-cut chances against the Gunners, with a history-making first-half goal from Bukayo Saka the difference between the sides. The Villa boss made changes after recognising his side was second-best in the opening 45 minutes but didn't take especially kindly to questions about the gap between his team and those above them in the table.
The defeat leaves Villa in ninth place, well clear of the relegation zone but still 12 points adrift of the top six. It was a second successive defeat for them, while Arsenal's three points lifted them four points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United.
"Well done Des for recognising that!" Gerrard said in response to questions about the gap to the European places. "The league doesn’t lie and I’d say that Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United, Spurs, West Ham and Wolves are ahead of us at the moment and there’s a gap.
"But, that's what we're striving to reach. If we want to take one of those places, we've got to be positive, we've got to believe in it and not be indecisive, we've got to go and grab it off them. We need to keep learning and evolving, get support from up above and go and try to grab it off them.
"I'm emotional, I don't like getting beat and I actually thought your questions would be a little bit better in all honesty," the former Rangers boss added in a curt reply to Kelly's query.
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It was the second time Villa have suffered defeat against Arsenal this season, but the first under Gerrard. Dean Smith was in the dugout in October when the London side won 3-1 in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium.
The Villa manager said he had "no complaints" over the scoreline this time around, with a first-half goal their undoing. Saka's effort wasn't Arsenal's only chance before the break, and Gerrard had given an honest appraisal of his team's struggles before showing his frustration towards Kelly.
"It was a tough first half because we allowed it to be tough," the 41-year-old said. "We were indecisive in a lot of things we tried to do. I thought our performance lacked belief and it wasn’t until half-time that we really showed that we could improve and be much better in the game.
"Obviously at 1-0 down you're chasing the game and you've got to take a few gambles, a few risks, that usually we don't want to do. First half we deserved to be behind, I thought we were second best."
